Raisin stemming apparatus



March 18, 1941, KlLri-EQR RAISIN STEMMINE APPAR ETUS Filed Aug. 9, 123"2 Sheen's-Sheet 1 f E O M w M A k 9 w 0 L w March 18, 1941. L. KILNERRAISIN STEMMING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 9. 1937 ATTORNEYSPatented Mar. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES :rA-TENr FFlCE Application August9, 1937, Serial No.*l58,l94

3 Claims.

This invention relates to raisin cleaners generally and has for itsobjects the provision of means for loosening stems and foreign materialfrom raisins and for effecting a separation of such stems etc. from theraisins in a manner whereby the raisins will be segregated from lighterparticles of waste material, all while' a large volume of raisins passesin a continuous flow through the apparatus. Another object is theprovision of means for accomplishing the foregoing results withoutscratching or mutilation of the skins of the raisins and without'injuryto the raisins.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the drawings andspecifications annexed hereto.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevational View of my invention. 7

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional View taken along line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.i

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of one of the louvers shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

In the raisin industry the raisins reach the packing house with thedried stems and caps attached and before packing the raisins, the stemsand caps must be removed. I-Ieretofore, it has been customary to subjectthe raisins to a rubbing action between roughened metal surfaces, suchas rollers etc., to loosen the stems, and the raisins have then beendropped through an air current to blow the stems awayfrom the fallingraisins into a waste compartment or hopper. However,.the action of themetal surfaces and stems on the raisins-in-the step of loosening thestems from the raisins results in breaking the stems in many cases, thuseffecting only a partial separation of the stems, and in scratching andmutilating the raisins. Also the mere use of a straight air current-forseparation results in carrying a considerable number of raisins into thewaste hopper, and in permitting some of the waste to pass into theraisincompartment, thus resulting in an imperfect. segregation of thewaste from the raisins. and necessitating several subsequent steps foreffecting satisfactory segregation.

By the use of my invention, the aforesaid objections are substantiallyremoved, and a highly efficient separation of the stems from the raisinsand segregation of the raisins and stems is accomplished in one stepwithout injury to the fruit. I

In detail my apparatus for accomplishing th results above mentioned,comprises a frame I within one'end of which .is a compartment 2, havingsides and a"bottom, which bottom has an opening 3 therein withthe bottomwalls 4, 5, incliningdiagonally upwardly from said openings,

the upper edge of wall 4 connecting with the lower edge of the laterallydirected opening at one end of a wind tunnel or conduit 6 and the upperedge of wall 5 connects with the upper edge of another, section I of thebottom wall, which wall 1 extends divergently downwardly relative towall insubstantially the same plane as the sides of the conduit at saidopen end.

The conduitslopes slightly downwardly from its aforesaid open end-to theopposite end thereof, which opposite end is connected to the air outletof a conventional blower il.

On main supporting frame I at a level above the frame-8 is ahorizontally disposed relatively large diameter drum l0extending'between the sides of the frame I, which drum' is mounted onshaft H at its ends, said shaft ends being rotatably mounted in bearingsl2 on the frame sides, said drum being rotated by any suitable means ata rate of speed of about 385 R. P. M., a pulley and belt l3 beingindicated for driving the drum.

Said drum is provided with sheet metal outer sides Hi, theouter-surfaces of said sides being covered with a sheet of rubber havinggrooves 16 formed therein extending longitudinally of the drum.

Below the drum and extending partially upwardly around the same, andfollowing the cylindrical outer contour of the drum, is a concavecomprising an arcuate metal plate I! spaced from the'drum about thethickness of the raisins R. The raisins are fed to the space between theplate I! and drum by an endless conveyor l8or other suitable means, theraisins dropping into said space adjacent the upper edge of the platell. The drum revolves in the direction of the arrow causing the raisinsto be rolled slightly between the plate and corrugated outer surface ofthe drum and to be ejected from over the lower edge of the plate forfalling onto the upper end ofa downwardly inclined. metal sheet for directing the raisins over said sheet. The lower edge of said sheetterminates adjacent the upper side of frame 8 and along the side of theframe facing compartment 2, thus the raisins passing over the metalsheet 28 will fall in substantially a single layer across the side offrame 8 facing toward compartment 2.

Within frame 8 extending between the lateral sides 20, 20' thereof are aplurality of horizontally extending louvers 2| vertically spaced apart.

Said louvers are shown more in detail in Figs. 3, 4 and aresubstantially the same as shown in my copending application Ser. No.158,192, filed August 9, 1937, which louvers comprise horizontallyextending strips of metal 23, each strip being formed centrally of itswidth to provide an elongated V-shaped central portion 24 extendinglongitudinally of each strip from end to end thereof. The margin 23 ofeach strip disposed between the upper edge of one of the sides of theV-shaped portion 25 and the side of the frame 8 facing the blower, isflat and is disposed parallel in opposed relation to the -adjacentstrip, while the margin of each strip extending outwardly from the upperedge of the other side of the V'- shaped portion 24 is cut transverselyof the length of the strip at equally spaced points 26. The sections 21of the margin between said cuts are alternately disposed in the plane ofthe side of the V-shaped portion connecting therewith while the sections28 at the sides of sections 21 are disposed in the plane of thecontinuous margin on the opposite side of the portion 24. The strips 23are arranged in a vertical row and the sections 21, 28 of adjacentstrips are arranged alternately directly over each other as indicated inFig. 3. Thus air passing from the blower between the adjacent pairs oflouvers will be deflected upwardly at spaced vertical points upon beingdeflected by the upwardly inclined upper face of sections 21, as bestseen in Fig. 4, and will cross the air currents that pass straightthrough between the lower inclined surface of each section 21 and uppersurface of section 28 directly therebelow.

Assuming the louvers are arranged with their margins 23' parallel to thedirectional flow of air from the blower in conduit 6, it will thus beseen that said air will be deflected upwardly upon striking the uppersurfaces of sections 21, but the air passing between the louversdirectly below' each of the sections 21 will continue in substantiallythe same direction past the louvers. Since the sections 21, 28 arealternately disposed in adjacent pairs of louvers one over the other,and since thesections 21, 28 are alternately disposed in the directionof the length of the louvers, the air moving across the plane in whichthe raisins fall across one side of frame 8 has characteristics in theareas projected generally horizontally from the spaces designated A,(Fig. 3) that are different from the areas projected from spaces B, thepattern of the areas projected from spaces A and B resembling acheckerboard arrangement.

This checkerboard arrangement of the areas of different characteristicshas the effect of causing a sort of fluttering action in the planethrough which the raisins fall from the plate 20, and has been found tocause a substantially complete separation of the stems from the raisins,and to cause the stems to bev carried beyond the bottom portions 5, 6and onto or beyond bottom portion 1 of the compartment 2, while theraisins all fall onto portions 5, 6 and pass downwardly through opening3 for being carried away from below said opening by a conveyor (notshown) to a remote point for further handling of the raisins. The stemsand lighter foreign material is similarly carried to some other pointfrom bottom portion I.

The louvers 2| respectively are secured at their ends as by bolts 30, tocastings 3| which castings are formed to support the louvers at theirends, as seen in Fig. 4, the upper contour of the castings being shapedto correspond to the cross-sectional contour of the louvers on theirlower sides. Each of the castings 3| is provided with a stub-shaft 32rotatably extending through the side frame, and one of the ends of eachof said castings on the side of frame 8 adjacent compartment 2 ispivotally mounted to a vertical bar 33 as at 34, so as to maintain thelouvers in the same relative degree of inclination on shafts 32. A crankarm 35 connected to one of the stub shafts 32 outside the frame 8 isprovided for turning so as to permit simultaneously changing the degreeof inclination of the louvers as desired, the arm 35 being provided witha looking pin 36 adapted to be projected through an opening in theyarmand into one of a row of holes 31 in the frame for holding the louversin adjusted position.

The exact cause of the eflicient and complete separation of stems fromraisins due to the control of the air currents as described, isdifilcult to determine, but is believed to be due to effecting pressureand directional changes in the air currents at the alternate verticaland horizontal points at about where the raisins crossthe air currentswhich causes a sufficient agitation of the air at said points to floatthe stems, and other particles of lighter weight than the raisin-s awayfrom said points without materially changing the general downwardmovement of the raisins. The general directional movement of the raisinsis indicated by the arrows 40, in Fig. l, and the path of movement ofthe stems etc. is indicated by the arrows 4|. It has been found,however, that the construction and arrangement of the louvers asdescribed effects a substantially complete and highly efficientseparation of the stems from the raisins and segregation thereof;whereas changes in the structure and arrangement fails to accomplish thedesired results.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In. apparatus of the character described, a raisin stemmercomprising: a generally cylindrical, elongated, horizontally disposeddrum, the radially outwardly facing sides of which, relative to itshorizontal axis, are of relatively resilient rubber groovedlongitudinally of said axis; a concave comprising an imperforate, metalplate having a relatively smooth concave side facing said drum; saidconcave extending around substantially one quarter of the circumferenceof said drum; and means supporting said concave spaced from said drum adistance substantially that of the diameter of raisins to be fed betweensaid concave and drum; and means for revolving said drum to causemovement of such raisins across said concave in direction of thecircumferential movement of the cylindrical sides of the drum when thelatter is so revolved.

2. In apparatus of the character described, a raisin stemmer comprising:a generally cylindrical, elongated, horizontally disposed drum, theradially outwardly facing sides of which, relative to its horizontalaxis, are of relatively resilient rubber; a concave terminating at oneof its edges below said drum and extending from said edge around aboutone quarter of the circumference of said drum, and the edge thereofopposite said one of its edges terminating at one lateral side of thedrum; means supporting said concave in a position with its concave sidespaced from the convex side of said drum a distance about equal to thediameter of the raisins adapted to be fed over the upper edge of theconcave that terminates at said one lateral side of the drum to betweensaid concave and drum; means for so feeding raisins over said upperedge; means for revolving said drum over its horizontal axis indirection for causing raisins so fed to said space to be moveddownwardly over the concave for discharge from the lower edge of thelatter that terminates below said drum; said con-cave being imperforate,and said means supporting said concave being arranged and adapted tomount said concave for movement of the entire concave toward and awayfrom said drum or for movement of its said upper and lower edges towardor away from said drum independently of each other as may be desired.

3. In apparatus of the character described, a

raisin stemmer comprising: a generally cy1indri-- cal, elongated,horizontally disposed drum, the radially outwardly facing sides ofwhich, relative to its horizontal axis, are of relatively resilientrubber grooved longitudinally of said axis; a con-cave comprising ametal plate, terminating at one of its edges below said drum andextending from said edge around about one quarter of the circumferenceof said drum, and the edge thereof opposite said one of its edgesterminating at one lateral side of the drum, separate means supportingsaid concave spaced from said drum and also supporting said concave formovement toward and away from said drum at each of said edgesindependently of the other; means for feeding raisins over the said edgethereof that terminates at said one lateral side of the drum to thespace between said concave and drum; and means for revolving said drumin direction to cause movement of the raisins so fed toward the edge ofthe concave that terminates below said drum for discharge from saidspace over the said latter edge of the concave.

LOUIS KILNER.

